The Bronze Age – The Beginnings
1.
A hoard—meaning a group of objects deliberately hidden—of bronze torques was discovered in the 19th century at Fraore di San Pancrazio. It likely included six items, but only four were handed over to the museum. Hoards of torques are mostly documented north of the Po River; the one from Fraore (dated to the 18th–17th century BCE) is the only known example from south of the river. These objects may have served as jewelry (perhaps worn with front-opening garments), or as a form of metal reserve, similar in function to modern ingots.
2.
In a wide excavation area, clear signs of ancient deforestation were found—trees had been cut and burned to clear the land. The distinctive scatter of pottery fragments was interpreted as evidence of plowing. The site, in use roughly between 2350 and 1650 BCE, revealed no traces of dwellings, but several large intact vessels and small pits were found containing stone, ceramic, and bone objects. Among these were flint tools, stone pendants, two tiny amber beads, and one of the earliest known bronze pins.
3.
The five vertical daggers on display come from the Castione Marchesi hoard, unearthed in the 19th century about a kilometer from the terramara settlement of the same name. A sixth dagger from the same hoard is now in the Pigorini Museum in Rome. Another large dagger, on display nearby, comes from an unknown site in the Parma region. Dating to between the 18th and 17th century BCE, these daggers were not designed for everyday use—they were symbols of status and prestige. They were often buried in hoards: valuable collections of objects hidden by metal traders, or perhaps placed as ritual offerings to seal alliances between neighboring communities.
4.
On the southeastern outskirts of the city, a necropolis dated to around 2000–1900 BCE was identified, made up of eight circular burial mounds. The largest had a diameter of 24 meters, while the others ranged between 8 and 13 meters. Each mound had a central grave pit, sometimes bordered or even covered with pebbles, and was encircled by a shallow ditch. One or more individuals were buried in this ditch. Additional graves and what may have been a ritual area were located just beyond the mound group.
Grave goods were present—though not consistently—across the different types of burials: under the mounds, in the ditches, and in the surrounding area. These include vessels, small daggers or modest bronze ornaments, flint tools (such as sickle blades or arrowheads), necklaces made of steatite beads, individual beads, shells, and spindle whorls.
5.
Long before the terramara of Castione Marchesi was founded, the same area was already in use. The oldest artifacts—a set of amphorae and a jug—were found inside a well and date back to the Polada Culture, between the 21st and 20th century BCE. Other pottery fragments and a bronze pin, dating to the 19th–18th and 17th centuries BCE, came from the surrounding area.